Dates with the Giant Squid
by CheckAlexa
Summary: When Lily Potter and Alice Longbottom were ten years old, they took a potion that was supposed to turn them into mermaids for a few hours. Something went very wrong, though, and now they change into the half-human creatures every time they touch water. Between school, their crazy families, and recent political uprisings, dates with the Giant Squid are starting to sound appealing.
1. The Story Begins

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_!**

Chapter 1: Holiday on the Mediterranean

It was boiling hot in my room. Not literally boiling-like the cauldron I had set up in the corner of my bedroom- but figuratively boiling. Though, with the windows tightly shut and the door to my room locked, it was surprising that the glass of water sitting on my nightstand was not brought to a rolling boil.

_Stir three times anticlockwise, whilst slowly adding pulped scurvy-grass_, I read from the instructions. I did as I was told and the potion turned a emerald green colour within moments of the third turn.

There was a series of knocks on my door as I lowered the flames that surrounded the base of the cauldron. "Lily?" I heard from the other side of the door. "Alice is here."

I froze, panicked. If my mother decided to come in, it would be obvious by both the heat and the stench as to what I was up to. "Could you send her up?" I asked, as I crossed the room to throw open a window. A cool breeze tickled my face as it drifted into the stuffy room. "I'm kind of in the middle of something."

By the middle of something, I really meant that I was making a potion that may or may not have been invented by myself. Mum had told me many times that I was not supposed to brew potions without supervision until I had finished at least my fourth year at Hogwarts. If she caught me making one, especially one that I had invented and had not been tested by St. Mungos- well, she was a lot like Grandma Weasley.

"Is everything alright, Bug?" Mum asked through the door. The handle jiggled and my heart seemed to leap to my throat. I prayed to Merlin that she didn't have her wand with her to unlock the door.

I walked as silently as possible back to my cauldron and sat down."Yeah, I'm just braiding my hair. My hands are a bit busy at the moment, is all." Before Mum had the chance to ask if I need any help, I continued. "Could you please tell Alice to come up here, Mummy?"

Mum responded with a yes and I heard her turn and start back down the stairs. A moment later, I heard another pair of feet pounding as they ascended the staircase of Potter Manor. "Thanks, Aunt Ginny! I'll be sure to do that!"

I dove towards the door and pulled my friend into the room as quickly as possible, locking the door behind her. "Have you got it?" I asked, breathless.

Alice rolled her dark brown eyes. "I said that I would, didn't I?" She opened her side bag and pulled out a crystal phial full of dully glowing leaves. "Seriously though, Lily, Dad will notice if I take anymore of this stuff, so this had better work- do you realise how difficult it is to get your hands on silversword?"

I grinned at my best friend as I took the phial from her and began to cut the leaves into small chunks. "Well, it's a good thing your dad is the Herbology professor at Hogwarts, then."

"Herbology professor or not, it still is considered stealing." Alice said with a huff, sitting down on my bed.

I looked up at her from adding the silversword in my mortar."Don't be such a Hufflepuff."

"I take great offence to that, you know. My mum was in Hufflepuff!"

"Yes, and you are starting to sound just like her." I returned to my potion ingredients and began to crush the plant with the pestle.

It was several minutes, during which I had instructed Alice to close the windows, before the silversword was ready to be added to the potion.

"Please don't mess this up." Alice murmured, sliding off the bed to join me on the floor by the cauldron.

I scoffed. "You doubt me too much." I removed the cauldron from the heat and began to stir the blue liquid clockwise. "Now add in the silversword. Slowly, so that it all dissolves."

The two of us worked carefully, making sure not to add the silversword too quickly or stir too slowly; if my calculations were correct, the cauldron would explode, and the effects of that would be very difficult to explain to our parents.

When all of the silversword was dissolved, I placed the cauldron back on the small burner so it could stay warm. "I think that it will need to sit overnight- it should be ready by this time tomorrow."

Alice pushed her blonde hair out of her face. "Are you sure that this will work?"

I bit my lip. So many things could go wrong with this potion: we could be stuck in the forms permanently- though the boomslang skin should counteract that; we could mutate into some half fish, half human creature that was not at all reminiscent of a mermaid- but that was what the horklump juice would protect us from; or we could simply die- in that case, hopefully we would be able to take a bezoar before we snuffed it. "My arithmancy tells me that we should be fine."

Tomorrow evening, we (that is to say the Potters, the Longbottoms, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, and their two kids) would be on the beaches of Spain. We were staying in a house right by a private beach that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. I sincerely hoped that the potion was ready before we left, because I'm wasn't sure if I could convince Mum to let me bring a cauldron with me on holiday.

Alice sighed happily as she flopped backwards onto my bed. "And by then, the two of us will be swimming along the bottom of the Mediterranean. Well," she said, eyeing my unpacked travelling trunk, "at least I will be. You haven't even started packing yet."

When I grinned sheepishly at her, Alice sat up an fixed me with her best glare. "Lily Luna Potter, I will not help you pack."

"Pretty please, Alice?"

"Absolutely not. It's your own fault that you haven't packed, not mine."

"But Alice, I've been so busy with this potion that I just haven't had any time to pack yet." I fixed her with my best puppy dog eyes. "And I just wanted to make you happy!"

Alice stuttered for a moment before saying, "Fine I'll help. I'll have you know, that you have the makings for an excellent Slytherin."

I rolled my eyes at her comment. "Yeah, yeah. Just make sure that my socks don't match when you pair them up."

"Yes," Alice said, sarcasm infused with her voice. "We can't have you looking normal. That would be a disaster."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you positive this will work?" Alice asked for the millionth time as we stood facing the Mediterranean sea. Waves were crashing on the shore, and the water came right up to our toes

"You flatter me with the amount of faith you have in my potion skills." I said, as I unscrewed the phial that held the potion. "But if it will make you feel better, I'll take it first, and you can have a bezoar at the ready."

Alice looked like she wanted to object. "Maybe we shouldn't do this, Lily. Mummy and Daddy might get worried if we disappear for a few hours, and that's if your potion doesn't kill us."

I looked sharply at my best friend. "You are the one who wanted to be a mermaid."

Alice held up her hands, "I know, I know! But Lily, this could be dangerous. We might-"

I lifted the phial to her. "Cheers!" I said, interrupting her rant. In one swift movement, I downed the contents of the crystal phial. Putting the cap back on the container, and looked at my friend. "How do I look?"

"Human." Alice said, with pursed lips. "Though very much alive."

I shrugged my shoulders and handed her another phial. "My guess is that we have about an hour as a mermaid once we touch the water."

Biting her lip, Alice looked down at the glowing blue liquid. "Does it taste bad?"

I had to roll my eyes. "No, not if you drink it fast enough. Now, stop wasting time. I want to go swimming."

Alice took a deep breath and lifted the phial to her lips. After she had taken the potion, she handed me back the phial, which I put in my sack by our towels. Kicking off our sandals and taking off our t-shirts, we ran back to the water, hand in hand.

"Together?" Alice asked as we faced the waves.

I took her hand. "As always." Together, we dove into the warm water of the sea.

When we resurfaced, we looked down at our legs, hoping to see a scale covered tail in their place.

"Maybe it needs more time to work?" Alice suggested hopefully.

"Yeah," I said, disappointed. "Maybe."

Alice reached over and gave me a hug. "Not every potion will work out, Lily Bug. At least you didn't kill us."

I had to smile at her words. "You always look for the bright side, don't you."

Alice laughed loudly as she pulled away. "You know me too well. Now, I bet I can find a prettier fish than you!"

"Ten points goes to the one who finds a starfish!" I said, diving under the water.

Alice was right- there was no use crying over a dud potion; especially not when one was in such a beautiful place as we were.

We played in the water all afternoon, and time in Spain continued in the same way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Around eight that evening on our last night in Spain, both Alice and I began to run fevers, and began to vomit our dinners. Our skin had turned bright pink, and it looked like we had a very bad sunburn.

My dad pushed my frizzy red hair out of my face as he tucked me into bed in the room I was sharing with Alice. "It looks like you got too much sun, Bug."

He gave me a kiss, and got up to turn off the light. "If you need anything, Mum and I are just down the hall. Sleep well. You too, Alice."

Alice murmured a goodnight to Dad. When the door was completely closed, she rolled over to look at me. "You don't think it could be the potion, do you?" Alice asked, panic beginning to overtake her. "Do you think we should tell them about it?"

I shook my head, "And get in trouble? No, that was days ago. I think Dad is right- it could just be sunstroke. We were out in the sun all day."

"But if we die-"

"We won't die, Alice. That potion was a dud, like you said. Just try to get some sleep, okay?"

But sleep proved hard to get that night. The two of us were very uncomfortable with our burnt skin, and the pain in our stomachs had intensified. We squirmed in agony, feeling as if we had swallowed fire. Sometime in the early hours of the morning, our fever broke and we were able to fall into an uneasy sleep.

Aunt Hannah was the one to wake us up the next morning. "Come on, girls. I know you don't feel well, but we need to pack up. Daddy has to be back at the school this evening to get ready for the new term, and we still need to go to Diagon Alley to pick up school supplies for your siblings, Rosie, and Lily's brothers."

With much grumbling, Alice and I rolled out of bed. "I'll take a shower first." Alice said. "Merlin knows how long it will take you to pack your clothes up."

It was a testament to how tired I was that I didn't even complain as Alice headed to the adjoined bath. I heard the water start as I slowly started to fold up my clothes and put them in my trunk.

A loud CRASH came from the bathroom behind me, startling me as I rolled up a pair of socks. I dropped the clothes and ran towards the door.

"Alice?" I asked, pounding on the door. "Are you okay? I'm coming in!"

I yanked open the door, and was greeted with a very peculiar sight. Alice was lying down on the ground, shower curtain tangled around her body. The shower was still running, covering the floor with water.

"Alice? Are you alright?" I asked, taking a step towards my best friend.

"Don't come any closer," Alice said, sitting up, trying to untangle herself.

I had to laugh. "Alice, I know you're naked, but let me help-"

"It's not that." Alice said, finally pulling the curtain away from her body. "It's that water." My eyes caught a shinning, scaly, glowing blue tail, right were Alice's legs should've been. "That potion wasn't a dud."

**(A/N: Hey readers! I really hope you enjoyed this, of what I hope, will be a series about Lily Luna and her friend Alice Longbottom. I am obsessed with _Harry Potter_, and I have always loved stories about Lily Luna, and I love mermaids, so I figured "Why not combine them and write your own!" I really hope you enjoyed this first chapter! If you want more, please review [feel free to tell me what you want to read, ideas about what will happen, questions if you are confused, or just constructive criticism!] and follow my story! Happy reading!)**


	2. The Wand Chooses the Mermaid

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Harry Potter**_

Chapter 2: The Wand Chooses the Mermaid

**One Year Later**

With a great _WHOOSH_, I stumbled out of the Floo, landing safely in my brother's arms.

"Careful there, Bug." James said as he started to brush soot off of my cloak. "You've got something on your face." He licked his thumb and reached over to wipe the dirt off of my face.

I dodged his finger, "Gross, Jamie!" Not only did I not want my brother's saliva on my face, but I had no intention of popping a tail in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron. Not that James knew about the tail part, of course. Nobody knew about the tail I, or Alice, grew.

After Alice and I found out that the potion we took the year previously turned us into mermaids moments after touching water, we avoided all forms of water like the plague. From what we could tell, the only liquids that wouldn't cause our tails to appear were our own bodily fluids-like tears or blood.

Dad came through the Floo next, followed closely by Albus, then Mum.

"When did you say that Ron and Hermione would get here?" Mum asked as she looked around the pub, as if expecting her brother to pop out any second. She walked over to Dad and threaded her fingers through his.

Before Dad could respond, however, a familiar head of blonde hair appeared behind the bar. "Harry! Ginny! How are you?"

Aunt Hannah, who was not really my aunt, was one of the coolest people ever- right up there with Uncle Charlie and Aunt Luna- and I'm not just saying that because she's my best friend's mum. She ran the Leaky Cauldron, and as a result, always brought over Butterbeer.

"We're doing alright. We're going to get school stuff for the kids. I heard about Neville's promotion! Tell him that we said congrats for us!" Mum said, walking over to hug Aunt Hannah.

My parents started chatting with Aunt Hannah, which I tuned out quickly. Adults always had boring conversations. I turned towards my brothers, only to find that James had wandered off towards one of his school friends, and Albus had pulled a book out of his bag.

I walked over to where my parents were at the bar, and pulled myself up onto a stool.

"Hello, Miss Lily!" Aunt Hannah said when she noticed me. "Are you looking for your partner in crime?"

I gave Aunt Hannah a cheeky smile. "It's only a crime if you get caught, Auntie Hannah."

The adults laughed in that weird way adults do when a kid says something humorous. "Well, I'm afraid that she's with her father in Diagon Alley." She turned to my parents and explained, "With so much more to get than Frank or Charlotte, Neville took her out earlier. They should be back in a couple of ours- he said they'd be back by lunch time to collect the other two- I can't leave of course-"

I zoned out of the conversation again, and opted to follow Albus' example by pulling out a book from my bag. I was so interested in the Golpalott's Third Law, that I didn't notice that the Weasley family had arrived 20 minutes later until Hugo had snuck up on me and tapped my shoulder.

I gave a squeak of surprise, and nearly fell off the bar stool as I turned to face my cousin.

"Hiya, Lil's!" Hugo said, grinning from freckle-y ear to freckle-y ear. "What are you reading?"

I was tempted to hit him in the face with the heavy tome I had been reading, but I knew Mum would disapprove of such behaviour. Instead, I simply showed the cover to the ginger boy standing in front of me.

"_Advanced Potions Making_? You're reading a textbook? Isn't that for N.E.W.T. level potions?"

I nodded, "It's one of Teddy's old books."

Hugo looked at the book in semi-disgust. "Do you even understand what the book says?"

"No," I replied, unable to hold back my annoyance with my cousin. "I just like to carry it around so that I look smart."

Hugo raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

"No, not really. I understand exactly what it says." I laughed, hoping off the stool. "Mummy, can we go now? I want to go get my wand!"

Dad laughed at my excitement, and bent down to pick me up. "Patience, Lily-Bug. Besides, don't you want to go get your wand with Alice?"

I huffed in annoyance. "Of course I do, Daddy! But the sooner we get the boring things out of the way, the sooner I can get my wand!"

The adults laughed. "Well, I can't argue with that logic." Dad said, kissing my cheek. "We had better get started. We'll be back later, Hannah."

Waving to Aunt Hannah, Dad and Mum walked through the back door to the alley way behind the pub, calling my brothers to follow.

"I think it would be best if we split up," Aunt Hermione said, appearing beside us. She took out her wand and tapped the brick that would reveal the alley. "So that we can get this done as quickly as possible. It's going to be a zoo today with all of the back to school shopping."

Mum nodded in agreement. "James needs new robes- I swear he's grown at least a foot over the summer. I can take Lily, Hugo and James to Madam Malkin's."

Aunt Hermione looked around at our group and pointed to Uncle Ron and Dad. "Harry, you and Ron can go get the books with Albus and Rose."

James snorted. "Aunt Hermione, if you wanted this trip to be short, I would not send Albus and Rosie to Flourish and Blotts."

Albus scowled at James, but didn't retaliate. Albus wasn't in Gryffindor with James, as he was much more studious than our older brother. Instead, Albus had been sorted into Ravenclaw two years previously, along with our cousin Rose.

Aunt Hermione either didn't hear James, or just decided to ignore his comment. "Then, Love," she continued. "Maybe you could take go to get more parchment and quills. Some ink, too. We can meet up at the apothecary in about an hour."

Daddy laughed and leaned over to give Aunt Hermione a kiss on the cheek. "'Mione, relax. We've got all day." Dad finally let me down onto the ground. "We'll meet you in an hour at the apothecary, Bug. Then we can get lunch and meet up with Alice. Deal?"

I grinned at my father and hugged him around the middle. "Deal!" Waving, I skipped to Mum and grabbed her hand. She dragged me towards Madam Malkin's to get one of my least favourite shopping done- robe fitting.

Even though my dad had been raised in a muggle household, both of my parents liked to wear robes on a daily basis, meaning all of us kids had to wear robes pretty much every day too. I never really minded it, but the process of getting the robes properly hemmed and pinned and fitted to your body _just _right, took forever. I was finished getting my school robes within a relatively short amount of time. Hugo, however, was a completely different story.

"Please stop fidgeting, Mr Weasley, or the pins will stick you." The wizard that was fitting his robes said. "You're almost finished, so please stop moving or we will have to start over."

Hugo looked over at me from where he was getting fitted and gave me a suffering look. "How are you finished already?" He asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Probably because I don't twitch like a hippogriff given espresso every few seconds."

Hugo groaned loudly, the yelped as a needle pricked his skin.

The wizard muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "I told you so," as he readjusted the hem on Hugo's right sleeve.

"Hugo, you're acting like this is killing you." Aunt Hermione said.

"I think it might be, Mum." He responded with a heavy sigh. "Can Lily and I go look at owls when we are finished?"

My mum looked at her watch, then looked over at James who had just jumped onto the raised platform to be fitted. "Sure, why not." When Aunt Hermione looked like she was about to protest, Mum continued, "You can go with them, 'Mione, and James and I will be along later."

Aunt Hermione nodded and fifteen minutes later, the three of us were walking towards Magical Mengerie, to look at animals. The moment we entered the loud, hectic shop, Hugo was attracted to a small spotted wood owl, and dragged his mother after him. I continued to browse through the owls, stopping to inspect the different animals that lined the shelves of the store every so often.

Near the back corner of the shop, I felt a familiar tingle in the pit of stomach that always occurred when I was near water. Rounding the corner of an aisle that showcased a collection of singing hermit crab shells, I came face to face with the source of the sensation- the entire back wall of the store held gallons of water in a large container with fish; however, these weren't just any fish. The fish that were being sold in Magical Mengerie were very angry.

One might ask how I knew the fish were angry, or how fish could even be angry. The answer to the former was not quite so simple: from what either Alice or I could tell, one of the perks of being a mermaid was being able to attract and talk to aquatic life. Something about our presence was like a magnate to marine creatures, causing them to seek us out and talk to us. The speech, however, wasn't really speech at all as it didn't consist of anything much like words, but instead impressions, images and sounds.

The answer to the later question was quite simple, on the contrary: fish had feelings just like humans. The current source of these particular fish's vexation was something that most fish owners never really took into account: the lighting of aquariums. Now, I won't bore you with the details on the proper lighting of a fish's habitat, so I'll just skip to the part where things don't go as planned for me.

I was approaching the aquarium slowly, looking for a way to somehow shield the poor aquatic creatures when life decided that it was time for me to learn another important lesson on being a mermaid: fish that had been bred in captivity had most likely never met a mermaid before, and approaching a fish would cause them to go, for lack of a better word, berserk.

The moment I came within a metre of the aquarium tanks, fish began jumping out of the water towards me. I did the only thing that a human would do when fish landed in their hair and soaked their clothes.

Screaming bloody murder, I ran for the first broom cupboard I could find, and managed to lock the door just heartbeats before I lost my balance and crumbled to the ground, my having fused together to form a blue tail.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So you just sat there, in the cupboard, for twenty minutes." Alice asked, doing a lousy job of suppressing the smile that threatened to overtake her face.

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" I hissed, pretending to read the Leaky Cauldron's lunch menu even though my food had all ready arrived. "Pop a tail in the pet store? I can see the headlines of the _Daily Prophet_ now ''Harry Potter's Half-Human Daughter.'"

Alice laughed at this. "You are so dramatic, Lily."

I folded up the menu and hit my friend over the head with it. "What would have you suggested I done, then?"

"Well," Alice said quietly as her dad walked by. "Not going near the fish would've been a good place to start."

"Oh, I must've missed the 'Beware Domesticated Fish or they Go Nuts' section in the _Half-Breed Handbook_," I hissed sarcastically. "Actually, a handbook would be sort of useful. Maybe we can find one at Hogwarts? It certainly wouldn't hurt to look."

"What are you looking for, Lily?" Uncle Ron said as he turned to face us.

"How to perform the jinx on James that would make him able to only speak in bad haikus for a few days. I know I heard of one somewhere." I lied. Lying had become part of my daily routine since becoming a mermaid.

"Hey!" James yelped, spinning to face us as well.

"Hay is for horses," I replied childishly, sticking my tongue out at my eldest brother.

Uncle Neville intervened before James could reply. "Well, Lily, I think a spell is only one part of the equation if you and Alice wish to terrorise James."

Alice's eyes lit up as she registered what her father was saying. "You mean we can go get our wands now?"

Aunt Hermione shrugged. "I don't see why not. We've got everything else on your school lists-"

"Apart from a pet for Lily," Hugo muttered with a sly grin.

"- I think we can easily swing by Ollivander's to buy some wands."

"Anybody who already has a wand, stay here. The rest of you lot, let's go!" Uncle Ron said, hopping up from his seat and heading through the barrier in the direction of the wand shop.

Alice, Hugo, and I trotted along behind Uncle Ron and at least one of our respective parents through Diagon Alley. The little bell above the door tinkled as our group shuffled into the dusty store. We didn't have to wait long as a man in his 50s rounded the corner of one of the shelves that were filled with boxes of wands.

"Hello," he said in a cherry voice. "Here to buy your first wand?" The three of us nodded as the man watched us through his silvery gray eyes. "I remember selling your brother and sister their wands," he said, pointing to Alice.

"Black walnut and phoenix feather for your brother," Mr Ollivander said as he began to survey the boxes on the shelves. "Cedar and dragon heartstring for your sister. Which is your wand arm, Miss Longbottom?"

"My right," Alice said as she approached the counter.

"You are much like your mother I can tell- yes, let's try... this one." He pulled a handsome red wand out of its box and handed it to her. "Give it a- no, never mind." He snatched the wand back and turned back around to the shelves. "Here, try this one."

The process continued like this for three more wands before: "I suppose we can try this one," Mr Ollivander said, "A most unusual pairing. Alder and unicorn hair, 12 1/2 inches, unyielding." He placed the wand in Alice out stretched hand, looking excited. Immediately, light blue sparks erupted out of the tip of the wand.

While the adults cheered for us, Alice shot me a look over her shoulder, and slightly inclined her head to the sparks that were the exact colour of our tails. Maybe the two of us were looking too closely at it but, I had to question if it meant something.

"Alright, who is next?" Mr Ollivander said as Uncle Neville stepped up to pay for Alice's wand at the till. "Mr Weasley?"

Hugo nodded and move closer to the counter.

Hugo's wand choosing didn't take nearly as long as Alice's. On the third wand, a maple and dragon heart string number, the tip lit up and we could all feel the magic in the room as the wand practically hummed with joy.

"Yes, excellent, Mr Weasley. This wand will suit you quite well. Now," Mr. Ollivander said, turning to me. "Won't you come closer, my dear? That's it, now your wand arm would be...?"

"My left," I said, barely able to contain my excitement.

Mr Ollivander smiled. "Like your second brother. Albus Potter was chosen by a hornbeam wand. 13 1/2 inches, unicorn hair, springy. My father had a wand made of hornbeam, too, you know? James on the other hand, was chosen by a funny wand made of dogwood. Not very often I see one of those sold, mind you. I trust he is an excellent prankster? Let's see... perhaps a poplar wand will suit you..."

It took quite a while for Mr Ollivander to hand me the correct wand, but he didn't seem to mind ("Just like your father, from what my father told me. A very tricky customer!"). Wand after wand was rejected, and a sinking feeling began to form in my gut. What if I couldn't use a wand? Did wands even work for mermaids? No, Alice was chosen by a wand, so we must be able to use them.

It when on like this until finally: "Let's try this one, Miss Potter. Beech, 14 3/4 inches, unicorn hair, bendy. It is capable of a subtlety and artistry rarely seen in any other wood when it comes to spells"

He handed me the wand, and immediatly I knew that it was the one. A warm sensation crawled up my arm, and when I waved the wand, a shower of blue sparks glittered down around me, much like Alice's wand had done.

The adults clapped and within five minutes, all of us were walking out of the shop.

Upon reaching the Leaky Cauldron, Alice and I hugged each other and promised to write as soon as possible. The Weasley's one by one stepped into the Floo, and disappeared with a burst of green light.

"Mummy," I said, seeing my mother's bright red hair. "Look at my wand!"

Mum congratulated me as she walked us towards the Floo as well. "But you know, Bug," she said, handing the Floo powder to James as he stepped up to the fireplace. "You have to wait until you get to school before you use it."

I gave her a devilish grin as I took my own pinch of the emerald powder. "I can use it, though, if I don't get caught."

Before my mother could respond, I shouted, "Potter Manor!" I threw the powder into the fireplace and was whisked away in a whorl of flames.

**(A/N: Hey, readers! Hope you enjoyed my chapter! If you liked this installment of _Dates with the Giant Squid_, give it a like, and leave a comment! Additionally, I've got a poll up on my page about which house Lily Luna should be in. If you could complete it, that would be awesome. I'm curious to see where you all think she should be. Peace, Love, and Fins! CheckAlexa)**


	3. Mermaids Invade Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Harry Potter**_

Chapter 3: Mermaids Invade Hogwarts

James had been extremely obnoxious all morning- more so than usual.

"When you get off of the Hogwarts Express," he said as our family loaded into our car- me in the middle, of course. "The first thing they make you do is swim all the way across the Black Lake. The trick to not drowning, of course, is to outsmart the Giant Squid. But you and I both know how hydrophobic you are, so if you were to give me a small fee-"

"I'm not that thick, James. I know that we take boats across the lake. Teddy told me." I said with a huff, trying to concentrate on the potions book in front of me. I was learning about antidotes, to see if I could reverse the potion that had turned Alice and I into mermaids. So far, I hadn't had very much luck, as creating antidotes for complicated potions (like the one I had made) was, well, complicated.

"Yeah, well, did Teddy also tell you that you had to fight a charging-"

"The sorting hat does not charge anyone, James," I said, cutting him off. I was pretty sure that James glared at me in annoyance, but I continued to calmly read.

"Well, you better hope that you don't get put in Slytherin."

"And if I am sorted into Slytherin, will you refuse to acknowledge me?" I snapped, finally turning to look at him.

Albus snorted from his seat next to me. "Like he would acknowledge you when you are put in Ravenclaw. The only times he talks to me is to insult the our Quidditch team or when he needs help with something."

James leaned over me to hit Albus on the head. "Please, I just don't want another of my siblings on an opposing team. Especially Lily- we need a decent chaser for next year."

"That's enough, you two." Dad said, looking at my brothers in the rear-view mirror.

The ride to Kings Cross continued much like this, with James irritating Albus and me, then the two of them arguing before one of our parents shut them up. I had reopened my book at some point and continued my attempts in reading it.

When we arrived at the station, Daddy and James pulled the trunks out of boot and loaded them onto the trolleys that I had managed to procure with Mum and Albus. Albus grabbed the cages of his ferret and James' owl, and set them on top of their trunks.

"We can always get you a pet a Christmas time, Bug." Mum said as she saw me look sadly at my brother's animals.

"I am not going back into that store," I said stubbornly. "I was attacked by crazed fish."

Mum laughed at me and kissed my head.

"Nervous, Bug?" Daddy asked as I watched my brothers disappear through the barrier that concealed Platform 9 ¾.

I shrugged. In all honesty it wasn't I was afraid of running headlong into a brick wall- I had done it many times throughout my life at this point that it didn't really phase me. I hopped on top of my trunk and signalled for my father to push the trolley and me towards the barrier.

I blinked and the scene in front of me had changed. There was assortment of witches and wizards running about: one woman was straightening her daughter's robes; a man with a very large moustache was trying to wrestle an angry cat into its basket; a child that definitely was not school aged appeared to have hijacked an older sibling's broomstick and was zooming happily above the crowd as her parents yelled at her to come down.

"There's Hermione and Ron," Mum said, walking towards her brother and her best friend.

Hugo was standing next to Aunt Hermione and chattered excitedly about, well, Hogwarts.

"Is it true that there are centaurs in the Forbidden Forest?" I heard Hugo ask as we got close enough.

Aunt Hermione laughed. "There's a lot of things that live in the Forbidden Forest, Hugo. So I better not get a letter from your head of house telling me about any strolls through it, alright?"

Hugo didn't seem all to put out by this; instead, he launched into his next question.

I waved to Rosie who was already wearing her school robes- the blue lining and eagle patch signifying her place in Ravenclaw house. Albus hurried over to her and they ran off to find a friend.

"Do you see them, Daddy?" I asked, too short to see if the Longbottom family were on the platform.

"Not yet, Bug. We'll find them. How about we put your trunk on the train?" Dad replied, wheeling the trolley towards the train. "Hop off, or you'll have to lift the trunk yourself."

I did as instructed, and Daddy pulled out his wand and flicked it at the light blue trunk. It rose fluidly and Daddy walked down the train corridor, looking for an empty compartment.

"There we are," he said, after my luggage had been stowed away above the seats. "Are you sure you don't want Albus or James to ride with you?"

I grinned at my father. "No, I'll have Hugo and Alice."

"Then we should go find them," Dad replied with a smile.

When we got off the train, Dad went to help Uncle Ron put Hugo's trunk in with mine while I went in search of my best friend.

I wandered amongst the crowd, making sure to keep an eye on the clock that hung over the platform. The train left at exactly eleven, and I did not want to miss a ride on the Hogwarts Express my first year. I passed James who was waving his hands as he talked excitedly to a pretty girl with long red hair. By the way he smiled at her, I assumed the girl was Eva, the girl James had been infatuated with over the summer. I walked away quickly before he could notice me and give me a few more 'helpful' tips about Hogwarts.

I bumped into a few people that I knew from dinner parties my parents had forced me to attend, and greeted them politely, despite my impatience to find Alice. One of these people happened to be one Mrs. Malfoy, as she fussed over her son, much to the boy's chagrin.

Scorpius Malfoy was a tall boy for his age, rivalling the height of James, despite only being a third year. He had platinum blond hair that matched that of his father's, though he had inherited his mother's sweet demeanour. Scorpius happened to be best friends with Rose and Albus, so it wasn't uncommon to find the Malfoy heir wandering Potter Manor during school holidays.

"Oh, Miss Potter," Mrs Malfoy exclaimed as I waved to her. "I hear that you are starting school this year?"

"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy," I said. "I am very excited."

I pretended to listen to the dark haired women as she fondly remembered her own days at Hogwarts. I think she also mentioned a girl named Cecelia and her husband, but listening to small talk was never my forte.

"Mum," Scorpiuswhined. "Can you let me go? I need to find-"

"Your friends. Yes, of course. Just make sure to say goodbye to your Father and me before you leave." She said, waving the two of us off.

I fell into step next to Scorpius as we squeezed through the growing horde of families.

"Will you help me, Scor?" I asked, tugging on the sleeve of his robe. "I can't find Alice in this crowd."

Scorpius smiled down at me in amusement. "Sure." Opening his arms, Scorpius leaned over and picked me up and placed me on his shoulder so that I could see over the sea of heads. "Do you see her yet?"

I scanned the faces around me, looking for Alice's bright blonde locks. "No yet," I sighed. "Are you going to ask Rosie to Hogsmeade?"

Scorpius nearly dropped me in response to my question. "What?" He spluttered. A hint of pink coloured his pale skin.

"You know, my cousin?" I said, attempting to clarify. "Though I cannot imagine you know too many Rosie's."

"I know who you are talking about, Lily."

"Oh, so are you not going to Hogsmeade this year? I know Mummy and Daddy threatened to take away James' privileges after the exploding toilet last year."

"No, I'm going to Hogs-"

I had to huff in annoyance. Boys just didn't make any sense, sometimes. "Then what part of my question are you not understanding?"

Scorpius took a deep breath, as if to gather his thoughts. "Why would you assume that I would ask Rose to Hogsmeade?"

I looked down at my brother's friend curiously. "Is that not what you do when you fancy someone?" Before he could respond, I saw the face I had been looking for. I waved furiously to Alice. "Let me down, please." I said, as my best friend hurried towards me.

Scorpius did as instructed, and I scampered off towards my fellow mermaid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lily Luna Potter!" Alice exclaimed as the train thundered farther away from London. "What have I told you about saying things like that?"

I cocked my head to one side as I looked at my best friend. "I was just curious. He obviously-"

"Yes, but to ask him so bluntly is not appropriate," Alice said with a huff.

I had to roll my eyes at this. "You sound like my mother, Liss."

"And yet you still refuse to listen."

Hugo, who had been sitting there so quietly I actually forgotten his presence, finally spoke. "Wait, Scorpius fancies Rose?"

Alice and I turned our attention to my cousin. "Duh, Hugo." Alice said. "Even Lily figured it out, and she is the queen of the oblivious."

I nodded, "It's true- wait a minute."

Hugo looked even more confused. "But she's Rosie."

"Well spotted," I complemented. "With a mind like yours, you will definitely be a Ravenclaw."

Hugo either didn't hear me, or chose not to respond. "But," he said, "she's my sister."

Alice, ever the patient one, did even roll her eyes, "Yes, Hugo. Rose is your sister. Scorpius has a crush on your sister."

"But she's Rosie!" Hugo exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "That's so gross!"

I shrugged my shoulders. "If you have a problem with it, then I suggest you take it up with Scorpius himself. Only he would know what was wrong with himself."

Hugo nodded. "You know, I think I will." He made for the door of the compartment, and before either Alice or I realised what was happening, my cousin slid out into the corridor and out of sight.

Alice looked at me in horror. "Why would say that?" She yelled at me, jumping to her feet.

"I didn't think he would actually do it!" I replied, following her example. "Who knew Hugo had the guts to go talk to someone. He might still pull for Gryffindor yet!"

Alice grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the compartment after her. "We have got to stop him. He'll embarrass both of them."

But finding my ginger-haired cousin proved easier said than done. The two of us got caught in a very large group of girls squealing with delight at seeing their friends for the first time since term had ended.

"Oh, is that Longbottom's little sister?" One whispered to her friend as we attempted to squeeze by. "It must be, she's got the same good looks."

"Frank is so fit," her friend responded. "I would love to get him in a broom-"

I had to laugh at Alice as she pretended to vomit.

When we finally caught up to Hugo, we found him banging on the door to his sister's compartment. "Rosie! Let me in, I need to talk to you about- oomph!"

"Very nice," Alice commented she helped me stand up.

Hugo didn't seem to care about my stellar tackling skills. "What was that for?" He demanded, springing to his feet and brushing off his robes.

"To stop you from making a fool out of yourself." I replied. "You obviously can't ask Scorpius about her, stupid."

"Why not?" Hugo demanded. "I think I have a right to-"

The compartment door slid open to reveal a bemused Albus. "Is everything alright?" He asked, pushing his glasses up farther onto his nose.

"Everything is fine!" I responded cheerfully. "Hugo just needed to ask something, but Alice and I will-"

Hugo pushed past my brother and entered the compartment, despite Alice and me trying to hold him back. Inside was Rose, Scorpius, and a girl their age with long black hair. "Rosie," he said. "Is it true that you-"

Alice reached forward and slapped her hand over Hugo's mouth. "It's nothing Rose, we're sorry for disturbing yo-ewwwww! He licked me!" She pushed Hugo to the floor and dashed away so that she could go pop a tail. Not that anyone knew this of course.

"She's developed an irrational fear of saliva over the past couple of years." I lied as the people in the compartment looked after my friend curiously. "Come on, Hugo, you need to apologise for any emotional trauma you may have caused her."

"But I still need to-"

"No," I sighed. "You really don't. Let's go." I grabbed hold of Hugo's ear and marched him out of the compartment. "Sorry for disturbing you!" I called over my shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"First years! Follow me! Hurry up!"

Linking arms with Alice, we skipped over to the towering figure of one Rubeus Hagrid.

"Hey, Hagrid!" Alice said, waving to the half- giant.

Hagrid, who was nearly twice the height of my father, had wild black and grey hair and a scruffy looking beard that covered half of his face. When Hagrid saw us, his dark black eyes crinkled around the edges.

"Why hello there, Alice, Lily. The two of you are finally invading Hogwarts, then?"

I laughed as Alice disconnect from me to give the Care of Magical Creatures professor a hug. "We sure are!" We chatted with Hagrid while we waited for all of the other first years to gather, agreeing to have tea with him sometime later in the week (our schedules permitting) to tell him about our first days at Hogwarts.

"Do we have everybody? Good, follow me." He turned and we followed him down a narrow path were dozens of little wooden boats were floating in the water. "No more than four to a boat. Go on then."

Like Cornish pixies being released from a cage, Alice and I scrambled with the rest of the first years towards the boats (though the two of us were much more careful to not get wet). Hugo hopped into our boat, along with a dark skinned boy muggleborn who introduced himself as Bartholomew Saunders.

Besides the gorgeous sight of Hogwarts lit up against the night sky, the boat ride was, thankfully, uneventful- meaning our boat didn't flip over, even though Hugo kept bouncing with excitement.

Hagrid led us up the stone steps of Hogwarts and into a small chamber, where we were greeted by none other than Uncle Neville.

He winked at us before addressing the first years about the sorting process. I could hear the voices of the other students coming from what I could guess was the Great Hall. The Great Hall where I would be sorted in moments. I honestly didn't pay all that much attention to what Uncle Neville- Professor Longbottom- was saying.

We were led into the Great Hall next, where Albus and Rosie waved to me from the Ravenclaw table. James was standing up on a bench over by the Gryffindors, and when I made eye contact with him, he gave me a thumbs up. Alice's older brother and sister grinned from the Hufflepuff table, next to where my cousin Molly was sitting.

Bartholomew Saunders, looked like he might faint. I felt sort of light headed too, if I was to be honest. What if I didn't get sorted anywhere? What if mermaids were rejected from Hogwarts. Magical creatures weren't allowed to yield a wand, despite all of the work Aunt Hermione had done with the ministry- would the sorting hat expose me for what I was?

I searched for Alice's hand, and it felt like she was doing the same thing, because we quickly connected to each other and held on tight. While I didn't want to be separated from my best friend, I figured it was inevitable given our different personalities. I squeezed her hand tighter.

The sorting hat sang it's song about the differences between the four houses, then Professor Longbottom called up: "Abbot, Chloe!" who became the first Gryffindor of the year.

My fingers were growing pretty numb by the time Uncle Neville called, "Longbottom, Alice!" and Alice had to extract her hand from my death grip.

Alice walked up to the podium and sat on the wooden stool. She gave me a weak smile as the sorting hat dropped onto her head and fell down to cover her nose. There was a beat of silence before: "Hufflepuff!"

I cheered for my best friend as she ran to join her siblings. It wouldn't be too long before it was my turn. Within a few minutes, Professor Longbottom reached the 'P's

"Potter, Lily!"

I clenched my jaw and, forcing myself to smile, I marched up onto the podium, crossing my ankles as I sat down on the wooden stool.

_Hmmmm..._ I heard a voice say in my ear. _Very interesting..._

I thought about thanking the sorting hat for what I'm sure was a compliment to my ingenious mind, but then I remembered that it was just a hat.

_Just a hat, eh?_ It wheezed. _Not very much tact, I see. Very interesting..._

_How long had I been up here?_ I thought. Nobody had taken this long, I was certain.

The students began to mutter as the sorting hat its sweet time to sort me.

_Very intelligent... not one to follow the rules... fascinating... You're much like your mother, you know._

_So you'll sort me into Gryffindor?_ I asked hopefully. My stomach was growling with hunger.

_Good Godric, no! Now let's see... Cunning, yes... but social graces seem to be lacking_.

I seriously was considering chucking the hat into the Black Lake, if the hat was just going to insult me.

_ Too violent for Hufflepuff, that's for certain._

I heard the word _Hatstall_ down from the students, who were beginning to grow louder from impatience. I had heard of Hatstalls before- students who took longer than five minutes to be sorted- the headmistress, Professor McGonagall, had been one. I swallowed down my panic- I would be sorted.

_Excellent at controlling you emotions, though_. The hat said. _Your intelligence is tricky..._

_Seriously, Sorting Hat. Make up your mind._

_ Ravenclaw would be an excellent house for you... that's where your brother is..._

_ Perfect, put me there._

_ But... the potion you created... breaking the rules..._

_You know about the potion?_ I began apologising profusely for the violence I had thought of that was aimed at the old hat. _Please, please, you mustn't tell anyone about that._

_Very interesting... Where to put you?_

I pushed the brim of the sorting hat upwards so that I could peer out at the Great Hall. I felt like an animal at a zoo the way they looked at me.

I locked eyes with James. He smiled at me- not the sarcastic one he usually wore, either. He blew me a kiss with a wink, which was his way of encouraging me... at least I think that's what it meant. It was hard to tell with James.

I dropped my hand, and the sorting hat fell to cover my eyes again.

"Put me where I am needed." I muttered.

_In that case, _the hat whispered into my ear_. It better be..._ "SLYTHERIN!"

**(A/N: Where you expecting that? Yeah, you probably were. I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a couple of weeks. I dislocated my shoulder, so I was in a sling for a while. Anyways. I hope you enjoyed that chapter! If you want to see more of Dates with the Giant Squid, hit the Favourite/Follow button to subscribe. **_**Please review**_**, so I know if you liked the chapter. Reviews make me more motivated to write because I know that people are actually reading my story, just a hint if you want faster updates:) I promise that this won't be a 'Lily is a snake so we hate her' story. Sorry if you like those! -CheckAlexa)**


	4. Asylum

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Harry Potter**_

Chapter 4: Asylum

If Harry Potter's daughter being sorted into Slytherin (and a hat stall, no less) was a surprise to the students and staff of Hogwarts, it was nothing compared to what followed after "Yates, David!" was sorted into Hufflepuff.

Uncle Nev- _Professor Longbottom_ cleared his throat and called the name of the last standing first year: "Rossi, Cecilia!"

There was an increase in the amount of murmuring around the Great Hall as the girl, who most certainly was not eleven, stepped forward to place the sorting hat on her head. As she turned, and just before the hat fell over her face, I recognised this 'Cecilia' girl to be the one I had seen on the train earlier in the compartment with Albus, Rosie, and Scor.

Unlike me, it took the ragged old hat only moments to proclaim Cecilia a Ravenclaw. The whispers didn't stop as she handed the sorting hat back to Professor Longbottom and calmly walked to sit next to Rosie at the Ravenclaw table.

When Professor McGonagall stood up at the head table, a hush fell over the room, all eyes turned to the headmistress. "To our returning students: Welcome back. To our new students: Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope you had a lovely summer," She said in her thick Scottish brogue. "I won't keep you any longer, however, from your feast. Dig in!" And with that, she waved her hand, filling the golden platters on the table, and promptly sat down.

The boy next to me, who looked at least to be a fifth year, huffed. "She could have at least told us about that Rossi bird."

His friend mentioned something about her being fit, at that point, however, I turned my attention to the food in front of me, not exactly caring what teenage boys thought about Cecilia Rossi's body.

"So you are the last Potter kid, then?" The girl across from me asked as she scooped peas onto her plate. "I'm Ruby, by the way."

I smiled in greeting, then shrugged. "Unless my parents have another one of us locked up somewhere or get busy pretty soon, I suppose I am."

The girl nearly spit out the pumpkin juice that she was drinking. She looked up at me with a grin. "I think you'll fit in here pretty well here, Lily Potter."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At last, when the dessert disappeared, Professor McGonagall stood up and cleared her throat.

"Now that we all have full stomachs, I have a few announcements to make." She gave the entire Great Hall a stern look. "As always, the Forbidden Forest is just that- forbidden. No student is allowed to enter the forest without the accompaniment of a member of staff; something some of our older students-" she looked directly over at the Gryffindor table, "-should keep in mind." I saw James wave at the headmistress with a lazy grin.

"If you wish to try out for the House Quidditch team, sign-ups will be with you head of houses. First years are not permitted to try-out." There were quite a few groans from the people in my year- including myself. Even though I knew that first years weren't allowed to play on the house team (unless you were Dad, of course), I still held onto the hope that they had changed the rules.

The headmistress talked for a little while longer before finally she reached the thing all of the students had been waiting for:

"Now," Professor McGonagall said, standing up even straighter than before. "I am sure all of you noticed an anomaly of sorts during this evening's sorting ceremony."

Most of the students turned to look over at Cecilia Rossi, who had her hands folded in her lap as she looked straight ahead.

"This may become a common occurrence for the next few months. As many of you know, either from the _Daily Prophet_ or your parents, there have been political uprisings in France." She waited until all of the students were paying attention to her, before continuing. "As a result of this, many families have either left France and the surrounding areas, or have sent their children to other, more stable, parts of the world.

"Hogwarts is acting as an asylum for students who attend theBeauxbatons Academy of Magic. I am sure that all of you will help out these new students find their way around Hogwarts, and make them feel welcome. If you speak French, I encourage you to assist your new classmates, should they have difficulty understanding English." Professor McGonagall looked slowly looked around the Great Hall. "It is very likely that more students will be joining us within the next few months or even years." "But now, I am sure you are all very tired. Prefects, please lead your first years to your common rooms. You all will need a good night's rest if you want to be able to learn tomorrow!" She waved to us, and stepped off of the podium, officially ending her announcements. Ruby and the boy next to me (who had introduced himself as Todd sometime during dinner) hopped up and called for all first years Slytherins to follow after them. As we filed out of the Great Hall, Alice winked at me and we met at the large oak doors that lead into the entrance hall. "Breakfast tomorrow at the Hufflepuff table?" She asked linking arms with me. I shrugged. "Before we get our schedules, at least. I'll see you in the morning! Good luck!" Alice laughed as we quickly hugged and split in two different directions- me towards the dungeons, and her towards down a staircase that most likely led to the Hufflepuff common room. "Please, Potter. You're the one who will need it! Good night!"

And knowing my record, I would need all of the luck I could get.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm Regina Peaks," a girl with long blonde hair said the moment I stepped through the door of the first-year girls dormitory. She stuck out her hand, and pumped my hand up and down when I met her shake.

"I'm Lily-"

Regina cut me off. "Yes, I know who you are."

There was an awkward pause as I waited to see what Regina wanted. When it seemed that she wasn't going to say anything, I tried to step around her to where I saw my trunk had been laid at the foot of a four-poster. Regina however, stepped to block my path.

"Err... may I help you with something, Miss Peaks?" I ask.

Regina stared at me for a little longer before saying, "Is it true your parents are getting divorced?"

I tried to side step the blonde again, only to be blocked once more. "Judging by the position I found them in this morning before breakfast, I highly doubt it." No matter how old you get, seeing your parents snogging by the stove as the pancakes were burning, was one thing you wished you could obliviate from your mind.

"Really?" Regina asked, pulling a magazine from her robes. "Because that's not what _Witch Weekly_ said."

I had to laugh. "People actually believe that rubbish? I think a couple of months ago they said that I was being married off to a centaur to pay some debt my dad owed."

Judging by the look on Regina's face, she actually did believe the rubbish, so it was a good thing some of our other dorm mates arrived.

"Regina," a girl with long, light brown hair said. "I think she knows a bit more about her home life than a magazine."

Regina looked like she wanted to argue, but another voice from the doorway stopped whatever she was going to say. "Don't worry, Potter. Peaks here has a thing for your father. Or maybe you should worry, now that I think about it- she might just try to off your mum so that-"

A taller girl, maybe a good head taller than myself, stood behind us. She had a smug grin on her face, and she was clearly looking for a fight.

"Nott- who let you in? I wasn't aware that garbage was permitted in the Slytherin common rooms, let alone the dorms."

"Sure, Gina. After all, you had to get in somehow, right?"

"Okay!" I said aloud. "I'm exhausted. Busy day tomorrow! Good night!"

The girl with the light brown hair gave me a weak smile. We slipped around the arguing girls and got our shower kits from out trunks. I felt for the water with my mermaid-y powers, and slipped through a conjoining door into the bathroom.

Pulling out my toothbrush, I turned to the girl next to me, who was pulling her hair out of its braid. "Thanks for stepping in back there. You're Helena, right?" I tried to remember what her full name was from the sorting, but with my nervousness, my mind drew a blank in remembering the rest of it.

The girl smiled to me and shook my outstretched hand. "Yes."

"What's your surname, again?" I asked.

Helena shrugged. "Just Helena. No surname."

"Do you not have one? Who did they sort you as? I could have sworn they had a surname during the sorting." The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could apply a filter.

"I'm Helena." Helena said. "It's just Helena."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lily Luna Potter! You did not ask that poor girl that!" Alice screeched the next morning at breakfast.

"What? I was just-"

Alice wacked me over the head with the _Daily Prophet_ of the person sitting next to her. "That is incredibly insensitive. She obviously didn't want to talk about it."

"That's my little sister, for you, Alice." Albus said as he walked by us.

Rose, who was with him, laughed. "It must be a Weasley thing."

I scowled at the three people before me. "What? It was a valid question!"

Alice just buried her face in her hands with a groan as Albus and Rosie laughed.

Albus nudged me over and sat down between Alice and me. Alice obviously hadn't been expecting this because she squeaked and her face turned rather red.

"So, what is your first class today, Bug?" He asked, reaching for some toast.

I pulled my schedule out of my bag. "I start with History of Magic with the Gryffindors."

Albus leaned over me so he could read the parchment better. "No Herbology today, right? It's supposed to rain today, and I know how much you hate getting wet."

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Have I ever told you that you are my favourite brother?"

Albus laughed and wrapped his arm around my neck, pulling me into a hug."Don't let the other two hear you say that, Buggy." He ruffled my hair before releasing me from the hug. Shoving the rest of his toast into his mouth, Albus stood up and joined Rosie who had been looking over Alice's schedule. Alice gave Albus a smile and shook her head when he asked her if she had Herbology as well.

Rosie gave Alice and me hugs. "We need to go talk to my twerp- I mean brother. Lunch at the Ravenclaw table?"

Alice grinned. "We'll be there."

"Why do you smile so much around my brother and Rosie?" I asked when the two had walked away. "Are you in love with one of them? I don't think Scor will be too happy with the competition."

My best friend turned to me and fixed me with her impressive glare. "Miss Potter, we need to work on your tact."

**(A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I realise that McGonagall had already left Hogwarts by the time Albus had arrived, but I'm changing that for the purposes of my story. Anyways, if you want to see more of **_**Dates with the Giant Squid**_**, hit the Favourite/Follow button to subscribe. Special thanks to the one person that reviewed (not that I counted, or anything...), you are amazing. **_**Please review**_**, so I know if you liked the chapter. Reviews make me more motivated to write because I know that people are actually reading my story, just a hint if you want faster updates :) I also apologise for the long break, because I am at uni. But the term is ending so I have more time to update now! -CheckAlexa)**


	5. Moving Staircases and Shifting Lines

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Harry Potter**_

Chapter 5: Moving Staircases and Shifting Lines

Despite being chastised so early in the morning by my best friend, the day got off to a good start. James lead me to History of Magic, which was interesting enough, though it was taught by a gentleman who spoke in a monotone. According to Uncle Ron, Professor Riggs was a great improvement over the ghost who he had as a student, so I really couldn't complain. I sat with Hugo during the lesson, which proved helpful as he seemed to have an interest in the subject, and kept me from falling asleep.

The two of us parted ways after the bell as he headed off to Herbology with Uncle Neville. Checking my schedule, I headed off in the direction of the Charms classrooms.

"Hey, Lily!" I heard as followed behind an older student in what I hoped was the direction of the staircase.

I turned at the sound of my name, only to see Helena hurrying towards me. I grinned at the girl, and looped my arm through hers. "Yes, Miss Helena?"

"Do you know where the Charms classroom is?" She asked, looking a little flustered.

I couldn't help but grin at her obvious discomfort. "Nope."

My response seemed to surprise the girl. "What? Where are you going?"

"Hopefully the towards the stairs. James told me that the Charms classes were held on the third floor. After that, I was just going to wing it." I replied honestly.

"But what if we are late?"

I shrugged. "Then we are late. Besides, it's the first day of classes. All of the first years are going to be lost."

My answers didn't seem to soothe her fears, but Helena nodded and allowed me to drag her to the moving stair cases. Her grip tightened exponentially when the stairs began to move. I glanced at her face to see that it had drained of colour.

"Muggleborn?" I asked.

"Half blood. Raised by muggles." She responded through gritted teeth. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her death grip on my arm didn't loosen despite the flexing of my bicep. "Is it that obvious?"

"A little," I said. "If it helps, just think of the steps like those escapalators that muggles use."

"You mean escalators?" Helena asked, cracking her eyes to peer at me curiously.

I snapped my fingers at her. "Those are the things! Anyway, these are like those things."

Helena stared at me incredulously. "Except escalators are safe. We are on floating stairs, hundreds of feet above the ground. We could fall off!"

"My Aunt Hermione told me that escalators sometimes suck people under, so I'm not so sure about the safety of them. But here," I reached into my bag and pulled out a book. Handing it to her, I pulled us off the stairs on to the next landing. "You should read this."

"Hogwarts, a History: Revised Edition_._" Helena read out loud. "Thanks, I guess?"

"There is a chapter in there about the moving staircase," I explained. I guided her onto the next set of stairs, glad that her nose was too buried into the book for her to crush my arm. "The founders put spells around under the landings that caused any falling object to bounce to the nearest landing. About fifteen years ago, however, a lot of muggleborn students began to jump off the moving stairs for fun- something about an adrenaline rush, I think- so the headmistress, Professor McGonagall, was forced to put up shields that keep students and their possessions within a few feet of the side of the stairs. See?" I ripped the book out of her hands and chucked it over the railing.

"Duck!" I yelled, just before the book bounced back over the side.

"Ow!"

"I did warn you," I said to the tall Hufflepuff boy whose head was nailed by the flying tome. I picked up my book which had fallen to the steps. "Look what you did, the cover is dented!"

"She's sorry," Helena said to the boy. She grabbed my arm and quickly pulled me onto the next set of stairs. "Are you really going to pick a fight with an older kid on your first day?"

"I hardly recall an argument," I said, looking back at the boy. "Oi, what's your name?"

The boy looked confused but responded anyway. "Thomas," he said, still massaging his head.

I gave him a thumbs up. "See you around, then." I lead Helena through a door on the next landing and started down the corridor. "Well, that was fun."

Helena looked at me like I had grown a fish tail. "You hurt somebody!"

"Not on purpose!" I replied, feeling defensive. "Besides, you apologised to him."

The girl next to me huffed in annoyance. "You're unbelievable."

I grinned. "If you find my behaviour unbelievable, I hate to find out what you think if I told you some of my secrets."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Helena asked.

I shrugged, knowing that my response annoyed her. Handing the book back to her, I quickened my pace down the corridor. "Feel free to borrow it. It's pretty good at familiarising yourself with Hogwarts. I can also suggest some other reading about wizarding culture- later of course, because Charms starts in five minutes."

Despite our lack of direction, the two of us made it the Charms classroom with a few minutes to spare. We were some of the few who had managed to make it to class, meaning we got our choice of seats.

"Come on," I said, pulling Helena up to the front. "I like to sit close to the blackboard."

Helena complied and sat down at the desk next to mine, cracking open _Hogwarts, A History_ and beginning to flip through it. I followed her example, pulling out my potions book.

"Mermaid..." Helena murmured suddenly.

My head snapped up to the girl, my blood running cold. "Come again?" I asked, hoping she didn't hear how my voice cracked. My mind raced, trying to figure out if there was any possible way she could have figured it out. I took a bath this morning, but it was before anyone had gotten out of bed. Maybe she-

Helena looked up at me, grinning."It says here that there is a mermaid colony in the Black Lake. Matt didn't tell me mermaids existed. That's so cool!"

"Oh, yeah. I like to call them a school of merpeople, personally. You know, school of fish? School of mermaids- never mind." I babbled, hoping to cover up any residual panic. I arranged my features into a mask of polite curiosity. "Who is Matt?"

Helena nodded. "He's my big brother, but he's in Gryffindor. Matt told me a lot of things about Hogwarts, but judging by this book, he forgot even more of it. I wonder what they look like. I always wanted to see a mermaid- do you think it's possible to see them?"

"I thought you said you were raised by muggles," I said. "And I'm not sure, I hear merpeople like to keep to themselves, you know?"

The Charms professor, Professor Gelasco, picked that moment to walk into the classroom. "Please put your wands away! We won't be needing them for this class. Today, we'll be discussing theory of Charms. Now, who can tell me what a charm is?" The lesson continued in much of the same fashion, only briefly stopping to call role when most of the seats were filled.

If I were to be honest, the class was rather boring. Though most incoming first years most likely had not spent the better part of their childhoods reading their god-brother's textbooks, so perhaps it wasn't fair to call the class uninteresting.

"Am I wasting your time, Miss..." Professor Gelasco asked, pulling me from a pleasant daydream about swimming in the Black Lake.

"Potter," I supplied. "No, ma'am. You aren't. I was listening."

Professor Gelasco looked at me like she had heard that answer before, which she probably had, seeing as she had taught James for three years already. "Then perhaps you could tell me what the spell _Lumos _does."

I held back any sort of snarky remark, which was nothing short of a miracle. "The word _lumos_, comes from the Latin word _lux, lucis_, meaning light. We get words like illuminate from the Latin. If properly cast, the caster's wand tip will illuminate with a white light. The more powerfully cast, the brighter the wand tip will shine. If weakly cast, the tip will be closer to a yellow or orange colour, though a dull light doesn't always indicate incompetence of the caster- a powerful _Lumos_ hurts the eyes when one is trying to read under the covers at night- but I digress. Additionally, if one were need the light to be even brighter, Lumos Maxima is often used. It has many uses such as- "

"Thank you, Miss Potter. That will be enough."

I smiled back at the Professor, hoping that my smile didn't come off as sardonic. I didn't need to be labelled as a smartarse on the first day. Professor Gelasco seemed appeased my answer, which allowed me to promptly continued to daydream. My thoughts soon wandered to potions, which then turned into thoughts about the class. Before I knew it, Charms was over and Helena was asking me where we should go for our break before lunch.

"Miss Potter," Professor Gelasco called as we were packing our parchment and quills away. "May I speak with you."

I smiled to Helena, telling her I would meet up with her for lunch, before wandering up to the waiting professor.

"Yes, ma'am?" I asked, though I had a fairly good idea of what she wanted. Professor Gelasco didn't look angry with me, which was generally a good sign when conversing with adults.

"May I ask why you didn't feel the need to take notes?" She asked, appearing more curious than anything else.

I shrugged. "My memory is better than my handwriting. More reliable too, to be honest."

My answer didn't seem to satisfy the older witch. "Be that as it may, Miss Potter, notes are important for revision, and many-"

"Of the questions on your tests are not found in the textbook, but are instead derived from your lectures." I finished. I truly had heard everything she had said amongst my mental musings.

"That is correct. Perhaps you will begin to take notes in the future, Miss Potter?"

I bit my lip as I attempted to phrase my response without sounding like an arrogant prick. "With all due respect, ma'am, I don't think I will," I said slowly. "I've already read the notes of my brothers from all of their classes, as well as al l required reading for said classes. I've memorised all of the theory, and while I am not nearly as... rehearsed in practice, I feel as if I am more than capable to choose my method of learning."

Professor Gelasco stared at me with an expression I couldn't read. Not that I was ever very good at reading the expressions of others. Especially adults, who often hid what they were feeling much better than children.

"I see," the professor said after a long silence. "If that is the case, then please report to this classroom tomorrow night at seven o'clock. You may join your classmates for the remainder of your break."

I nodded and walked out of the classroom. "Now," I muttered to myself as I took off down a corridor. "Where is the Great Hall."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"All right, Buggy!" James exclaimed when I finished telling the family my conversation with the Charms professor. "You've broken my record!"

"Record?" I ask, avoiding looking directly into Alice's glaring eyes. While I was not entirely sure what she was grumpy about, I nonetheless felt the need to avert my gaze from the angry blonde.

"Yeah! I mean I've never gotten a detention this early in the year." James explained, still grinning as if he had won a thousand galleons. "The earliest I've ever gotten one was right before dinner after the first day of classes."

I looked at my brother curiously. "What do you mean detention?"

Albus shook his head. "That's what Professor Gelasco just 'invited' you to tomorrow evening, Lily."

"Truly?" I asked. "And are these detentions bad? You do seem to complain about them, James, but what are Professor Gelasco's detentions like?"

James shrugged. "She usually make me write lines, or clean up anything that I had destroyed in the lesson without magic. It could be worse- my arithmancy professor makes us memorise the decimals of irrational numbers until the two-hundredth place."

"Considering how you seem to think you don't need to take notes in class, she will probably make you copy a transcript of the class a few times." Albus explained. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose and leaned across the table to look at me. "But what the professor makes you do, isn't the problem, Lils. Getting detention this early in your schooling carer gets you labelled as a trouble-maker."

I pondered what Albus had said as I poured myself a glass of pumpkin juice. "Well, I suppose that there are worse titles to have. Anyway, how have your days been thus far?"

Albus and Alice both gave me disgruntled looks, which were most likely due to my nonchalance about being branded as a hooligan, but told me about their morning classes. Alice was telling me about the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, when I saw Helena wander into the Great Hall. Her nose was buried in the book I had loaned her, and I sincerely doubted that the girl would be able to find us at the Ravenclaw table.

I pointed her out to my friend. "And guess what? She's oddly fascinated with mermaids," I said, trying to sound casual.

Alice's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

I nodded and arranged my features into a smile, "Yeah. She's really curious- muggle raised, and all that."

I knew by my best friend's expression that she knew exactly what I meant. Curiosity and the revelation that your childhood dreams were real, were not necessarily the best combination to have when one of your dorm mates was trying to hide the fact that she turned into a half-fish when she got wet.

"Interesting." Was all Alice said. Translation: Alice would be keeping a very close eye on the dark hair girl that slept in the bed next to mine.

Albus looked between Alice and me, as if trying to figure out the meaning behind our conversation. "She's the girl who wouldn't tell you her last name, right?"

"Yeah," I said, breaking eye contact with my fellow mermaid. "I told her to sit with me for lunch. She's got a brother here, said he's in Gryffindor. Do you know him, James? She said his name was Matt, if that helps."

James looked thoughtful for a moment. "She might be Matt Howard's little sister. He I think he was muggle raised. He doesn't talk much."

Albus nodded. "We have potions together. Smart bloke." He looked over at the Gryffindor table, and pointed to a blond head that was buried in a book. "Like Jay said, though. Matt is really quiet. He keeps to himself."

"Guess the reading thing runs in the family?" I said. I just hoped that his sister wasn't too observant. "Where is Scor?"

"I'm right here, Lily-Billy." Scorpius said, dropping down on the bench next to Alice. He began filling up his plate with vegetables. "Sorry we're late! Cecilia, qu'est-ce que-" He reached for the plate next to him, only to find that Cecilia wasn't sitting down, but instead, staring at me.

Cecilia Rossi was a beautiful girl in a way that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Her eyes were an odd mixture of brown and blue, and she stared unblinking at me. There was a sort of... funny feeling, I suppose, in the pit of my stomach when I met her eyes, and I was certain that there was definitely different about the girl in front of me.

The feeling in my stomach began to spread through my body, and every nerve in my body began humming with my magic. It was an uncomfortable feeling, but I was Lily Potter, and growing up with two older brothers (three if you counted Teddy), had made me very competitive. I knew a staring contest when I saw one, and I knew I wasn't about to lose.

"Cecilia?"

The girl in question broke eye contact with me, and stared down at the table. "You may speak English around me, Scorpius." She looked between Alice and me quickly. "Do you think the two of you could show me where the nearest toilet is?"

Scorpius looked confused, not that he was the only one, before speaking. "They're first years, Cecilia- they're not going to know-"

"Of course we can," I said, cutting the Malfoy heir off. "Come on, Alice."

The blonde girl shot me a funny look, but stood up from the bench nonetheless. She gave an awkward sort of smile to Cecilia, and the three of us made our way out of the Great Hall. No sooner had we made it into the Entrance Hall, when Cecilia pulled us off into a secluded corner.

"I'm so sorry, Miss." Cecilia said, her French/Italian accent becoming more pronounced as she turned to face me. "I did not realise that this area was claimed. I assure you, it was not my intention to encroach on your territory when I came here."

Alice stared at Cecilia for a moment before asking, "I'm sorry, but what are you talking-?"

I waved my hand at my best friend, attempting to get her to shut up. "What are you?" I asked.

The thirteen-year-old stared at me, clearly bemused. "I am like you."

"Extremely confused about what is going on here?" Alice asked.

Cecilia glanced between Alice and me. "No," she said slowly. "I am a mermaid."

**(A/N: Oh, hullo! It's been awhile, hasn't it? Sorry about that. But here is the chapter, which I sincerely hoped you enjoyed. If you liked it, or have any questions or constructive criticism, hit the review button, and type me out a message! Hope to hear from you. -CheckAlexa)**


	6. Readings and Riots

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Harry Potter**_

Chapter 6: Readings and Riots

"Come again?" I asked after a moment of silence. Alice and I looked at each other, then at the dark haired girl in front of us, trying to decide if she was pulling some elaborate joke on us. Cecilia, however, stared at us with an equal amount of confusion.

"I'm a mermaid," she repeated. "Do not tell me that you did not know what I was?"

"If I said I knew that you were all along, would you believe me?" I asked. Cecilia's eyes narrowed in response, her head tilting in confusion. "Yeah, didn't think so. How do you know what we are?" I questioned, motioning to the oddly quiet Alice and myself.

Cecilia pursed her lips. "When the two of you entered the compartment yesterday, with that redheaded boy, I knew immediately what you were."

Alice huffed in annoyance. "Yes, but how? We've kept this a secret from everybody. How did you find out about it?"

The Ravenclaw shifted her gaze towards Alice. She watched my best friend with those odd, multi- coloured eyes, as if pondering how best to respond. "I sensed you," She responded at last.

Alice looked sceptical. "You 'sensed' us? What does that mean?"

Cecilia shifted her weight back and forth, and began to tug at her braided black hair. "It means I felt you. Like all merpeople can do when we are near each other, you know? It's that- I do not know the word- feeling in your stomach. Surely you know?"

Alice shook her head and looked at me. "I've never felt that before. Have you, Lily?"

"I-" I looked back towards Cecilia. "Does it feel like you are vibrating?"

Cecilia looked relieved. "Yes! That is the word. It starts in your stomach and vibrating moves through the body. It is odd, though," Cecilia glanced at Alice, "that you cannot feel this hum. You are old enough, _non_?"

Alice looked confused, which was understandable, considering Cecilia wasn't making much sense. "What do you mean?" Alice said, not for the first time in this strange conversation with the older Ravenclaw girl.

"You have begun the change, have you not?" Cecilia said, sounding less confident with each word. "Your eyes are light." Cecilia pointed to her own eyes. "I still have a year or so to go."

"Okay," I said. "Hold up." The Ravenclaw faced me with confusion, pausing when I noticed a few students begin to wander out of the Great Hall. I nodded to a spot down the corridor, farther away from any unwelcome ears before continuing. "What is this 'change', that you are talking about?"

Cecilia's expression was either bemused or impatient, though I couldn't decipher which before she began to speak."The change that turns you from a... _piccolo pesce_ to a full grown merperson. Surely your parents explained this to you? Or at least the ones who turned you?"

"No," Alice said slowly. "We already told you, nobody knows about our... fishiness. Not even our parents."

"Then how in the seven seas did you become mermaids?" Cecilia asked, throwing her hand up in the air in apparent frustration. "What? Did you just magic yourself? Or were you adopted out to humans?"

"Neither," Alice snapped. "It was a potion. We took it last summer, and ever since, we've been turning into mermaids."

Cecilia opened and closed her mouth, doing an excellent impression of a fish (and I would know). "A potion?" She whispered.

"Yeah," I said. "I've been looking for an antidote, but I'm only eleven, so there are only so many potions books I can get my hands on without people thinking I'm turning into an evil sorceress."

"Eleven?" Cecilia hissed, blood draining from her face. "Sweet Merlin, you still have scales up to your necks, don't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, bristling. It was an uncomfortable topic for Alice and I: upon learning of our mermaid capabilities, we discovered that mermaids did not in fact get free clam shell bras, but instead a continuation of their tail scales, covering all exposed skin on their torso and back. The two of us were rather disappointed, and for that reason, we never spoke of the let down that had been our stomach scales. "Don't all mermaids have scales up to their necks?"

I didn't think it was possible, but Cecilia's eyes grew even wider. "Do not all mermaids... " She repeated. "_No_! The two of you honestly have not an idea of becoming an adult mermaid?"

I looked over at Alice, who seemed to be copying me while she shook her head.

Cecilia began pacing and muttering to herself in Italian. My knowledge of the Romance language was, regrettably, extremely small: she could have been talking about overthrowing the Minister for Magic for all I knew, though I figured it had something to do with Alice and me. Finally, the dark haired girl stopped her pacing, and turned to face us. "Meet me here after dinner tonight, capisci? We will need to talk about- everything, it seems."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alice and I quickly gathered our bags from the Great Hall after that conversation with Cecilia. While we managed to avoid any awkward questions (not that there were any), I noticed Albus and Scor sending us confused looks as we made our hasty departure.

The two of us, wandered first to the Hufflepuff common room, so that Alice could get her Potions textbook, then towards the aforementioned classroom in the dungeons.

When there seemed to be a moment of privacy for the two of us to speak, we discussed the odd conversation we had had with Cecilia Rossi.

"Do you think she will tell anybody?" Alice asked quietly as we sat in the abandoned corridor outside of the Potions classroom. The floor was rather cold given that it was made from stone, though it didn't really bother Alice or me- I supposed that it had something to do with us being used to swimming in the cold water back home, though there were not that many mermaids who we could ask to confirm my suspicions.

_Until now, it would appear._

"No," I said, after a moment of thought. "First off, who would believe her? We could always say she was lying or crazy. But more importantly, we know her secret too."

Alice looked confused. "And that helps us how?"

"Oh Alice," I said with a giggle, lowering my voice even further as an older student swept by. "How very Hufflepuff of you." The blonde pursed her lips in a way that told me that she was not impressed with my response, so I continued. "If she tells someone our secret, who's to say that we won't return the favour? She's going to keep silent because half breeds are no more favoured here then they are in Italy."

"How very Slytherin of you," Alice replied, rolling her eyes. "I would have guessed that she went to Beauxbatons, especially after Professor McGonagall's speech last night. They're pretty lenient with half breeds, so why come here?"

"Professor McGonagall did mention political unrest in France," I said. "Perhaps we should learn a little bit about the situation? I saw some copies of the _Prophet_ in the common room this morning. We could start there." I wasn't sure how recent they were, but it would be helpful, nonetheless.

Alice nodded at my suggestion, offering a hand to help me stand as more students began to file into the corridor. I waved to Helena when she appeared, noticing that she had already read a fair amount of the book I had lent her, if the piece of parchment sticking out of the top was any indication. "We'll meet in the library then?" I asked Alice. "I've got a free period for the rest of the afternoon after this."

"You'll have to get started without me, but I'll meet up with you after Charms." Alice said, while the door to the Potions classroom opened, allowing the other first years to begin to file through.

I grinned at the blonde. "Just make sure to take notes," I said. "I hear Gelasco becomes grumpy if you do not."

Alice rolled her eyes at me, but didn't say anything, choosing instead to pull me towards the front of the classroom. "Make yourself useful, and do not let me blow up my cauldron."

I quirked an eyebrow. "It's the first day," I said. "We're probably going to make something simple, like a cure for boils. How awful can you be?"

As it would turn out, incredibly horrible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Have you found anything?" Alice murmured, dropping her bag onto the floor, and taking a seat next to me.

I shook my head, and pushed the newspaper away from me. "I've read through most of the _Prophet_ from the last four months, but there hasn't been as much as I would've thought. You would imagine that political unrest in a neighbouring country would be front page news."

Alice reached over and plucked a paper that was three weeks old from the pile. "You would think," she said as she scanned through the pages. "Four months, you said? How did you manage that?"

I began to fold up the pages and arrange them by dates. "This place actually has every single copy of the _Prophet_ since it started printing. You just have to go up and ask the man at the desk. His name is Boris. He's quite lovely, to be honest."

"I was referring to the insane task of reading four months worth of news in a little over an hour," Alice said. She folded up the paper and let me stick it into my growing stack.

"I am a dedicated and driven young lady who happens to not want to do her homework." I gathered a stack of papers in my arms and instructed Alice to do the same. "Anyway, from what I understand, it has little to do with who is running the country, and more to do with the rights of magical creatures and half breeds. The _Prophet_ has been rather vague. I asked Boris to gather as many copies of _La Magie_ as they had on file going back two months."

"_La Magie_?"

"Yeah, it's Southern France's version of the _Prophet_. Literally means 'Magic', creative right? Anyways, I figured we can ask Boris to put a translation spell on some the copies, and we can split up the work. We still have," I looked at my watch while trying not to drop the stack of papers on the floor. "What, two hours before dinner? That's more than enough time, I should think."

Alice hummed in agreement. "Yeah, I guess. I'm just alarmed that we even need to go to another source." She lowered her voice even further when we passed a table of stressed looking Ravenclaws, not wanting to incite their wrath.

"Why is that?" I asked. We had reached the desk where Boris was sitting, flipping through a thick tome that appeared to be written in Runes, a tower of papers next to him that I could only guess were for us. He nodded at me in greeting and flicked his wand at the copies of the _Prophet_ in our arms, causing the papers to zoom off to some unknown depth of the library of Hogwarts. After asking him to translate some of the papers into English, the two of us set off back to the corner of the library I had holed myself up in.

"Well," Alice explained slowly. "I would guess that the _Prophet_ doesn't want us to get any ideas. You know, take a leaf out of France's books."

I glanced around, making sure that nobody was paying attention. "When you say 'us' do you mean Great Britain, or do you mean, you know, half breeds?"

"Half-breeds." Alice hissed. "Look, you know as well as I do, that no matter how much Auntie Hermione has put into the rights of magical creatures, there is still a negative stigma to being a half breed or a magical creature."

"Obviously," I said, rolling my eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out that most nonhumans were looked down upon. Aunt Fleur, and my three cousins were only part veela, and they still got nasty sneers sometimes when they were doing their shopping.

Alice pushed me towards our table onto which she dropped her stack of papers."Lily, if half breeds and magical creatures knew what was happening in France, really understood, there could be riots all throughout magical England."

"Look," I said, "I'm sure people might be concerned, but riots is a bit excessive. Our laws are strict, but from what I read over the past two hours, they are nothing like the laws in France and Spain, and especially nothing like they are in Portugal and Italy. Those laws are," I paused, trying to find the right word. "Cruel. In Italy, if a vampire goes within fifty meters of a witch or wizard, or one hundred meters of a child, they could get five years in prison."

Alice pulled a newspaper off the top of her stack and opened it."Be that as it may," she said, a small wrinkle appearing between her eyebrows. "There is still segregation between humans and magical creatures. All it takes is one incident, Lily, for the spark to ignite a fire." She began to skim over the words on the page. "I would bet you a sickle that the ministry is preparing for something like this to happen here."

I shook my head, "Then why is the ministry offering asylum to oppressed mermaids."

Alice froze, running her finger along words half way down the page. "I would guess," she said slowly, waving for me to read over her shoulder. "That they have no clue."

I looked at the article, dated back to early July, that was accompanied with a picture of a family of five. In between two tall boys, was Cecilia.

_**Head of the Department of Magical Creatures Murdered**_

_ Last night, Italian Aurors were called the home of Marco Rossi, head of the Department of Magical Creatures, after a disturbance was reported by neighbours. Inside, the remains of Mr. Rossi, 49, was found with his heart missing. His wife, Adriana, 47, and sons, Piero, 18, and __Giuseppe, 15__, were found unconscious, and covered with what were confirmed by healers to be werewolf bites. The family is survived by their daughter, Cecilia, 12, who was with friends at the time of the attack._

"Poor Cecilia," Alice whispered.

"What does it mean that she survived them?" I asked, skimming through the article. "It was just a werewolf attack. While tragic, they are hardly lethal, given proper treatment. The mother and brothers sounded alive when the healers found-oh."

_In accordance with the Werewolf Threat Fiat of 2003, which Marco Rossi himself had drafted and heavily endorsed before and after its enactment, all werewolves found in Italy are to be sentenced to death, regardless if they had infected another human or not. Giuseppe Rossi was allowed to die from his wounds, while Adriana and Piero were stabbed in the heart with a silver knife by Aurors after it was found that they would survive from the attack._

_ "It's a tragedy," Leonardo Gallo, a family friend, and long time business partner with the late Mr. Rossi. "But it's what Marco would have wanted. To see one of his own family members become a monster would have broken his heart."_

"Sweet baby Merlin."

"I get what you mean about their harsh laws," Alice said.

"They made it sound like they were doing the family a favour." I managed to stutter. "I don't think I particularly wish to continue reading."

Alice shook her head, her blonde hair slipping into her face from the messy bun she had put it in. "I don't think I do either." She carefully folded up the paper and placed it back on her stack. We gathered the papers in our arms, and quickly returned them to Boris. He seemed surprised by our quick return, but took the newspapers from us with a swish of his wand.

"It does lead to an interesting question though," I said after we had collected our bags and scurried from the library.

Alice looked at me in confusion.

"Cecilia," I explained, pulling her into an empty classroom. After checking to make sure that we were alone, I turned to my best friend. "If her father was one of the biggest supporters of this... repression of magical creatures-"

"Why was she living with him?" Alice finished. "He probably had no clue what she was."

I pursed my lips in frustration. "Besides the unhealthy atmosphere she was living in, which, while unfortunate, is only a small problem. I have to question how she became a mermaid in the first place."

Alice's eyes widened when she realised what I was implying. "She did mention this afternoon that it was possible for a merperson to change a human. Do you think that Cecilia was changed in retaliation for her father's job?"

I shrugged. "It would make sense. I think you're right," I said. "If magical creatures here heard about what was really happening in southern Europe, well, I feel like rioting myself."

Alice looked at my nonchalant posture. "Yeah, I bet you do. Burning with anger, you are."

I bumped my shoulder with the blonde, and pulled her towards the door. "We still have some time before dinner. I say we head down to the lake and try to figure out some questions we should ask Cecilia."

"Or," Alice said, in a way that made me feel like her suggestion was going to be the one we ended up doing. "We start our homework so we don't have to do it at the last minute."

"You are a pain in my arse, Lis."

Alice bumped her hip with mine. "Someone's got to be."

**(A/N: Hey there! So a lot of stuff is happening in this chapter. I was tempted to put the conversation that the girls will have with Cecilia in this chapter, but I felt that it would be too long, and there would be too much information being given out at one time. Lily and Alice are just starting to realise how messed up the world around them is, and I felt that this was a really good way to get to understand these two really well. Lily is basically the brains of the operation, as you probably noticed, and while she is really books smart, she lacks the compassion that Alice has to understand the implications of what is going on around her, and how it might impact her and others. Alice, while not a savant-of-sorts like Lily, is really necessary because she brings Lily back down to Earth and helps put thing into perspective, if that makes any sense. Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or constructive criticism for the piece, please review! -CheckAlexa)**


	7. A Different Sort of Lesson

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Harry Potter**_

Chapter 7: A Different Sort of Lesson

Even though we had only completed one day of a formal magical education, both Alice and I had homework. Upon seeing that the rain from earlier in the afternoon had cleared, the two of us wandered out onto the grounds, avoiding puddles whilst looking for a suitable spot for us to do our assigned work. I cast a drying charm (a helpful spell that I had been practicing since I had received my wand) on the grass under a large oak tree, and the two of us settled down with our books, inkwells, and parchment balanced on our knees.

While we worked on our potion essays, I watched other students over the edge of my quill, who had also apparently noticed the good weather and decided to capitalise on the sunshine. A group of Gryffindor boys were wadding in the lake, robes cast off on the ground and pants rolled up to their knees. I noticed my cousin, Fred, amongst them and watched, amused, as he knocked one of his friends into the water.

"I wonder if the lake is out of bounds like the Forbidden Forest is," I commented, nodding towards the body of water.

Alice hummed, pausing from her ten inch essay on the history of potions and magical drafts, and looked over at the lake. "I asked Dad, and he said that there isn't technically any rules against swimming in the water, but most students don't because of the Giant Squid and other creatures that live in it."

"Like grindylows," I said, remembering what Dad has said about the water demons from his foray into the Black Lake during his fourth year. Alice and myself had the unfortunate luck of meeting some the previous winter as well, and the two of us were lucky to make it way with only a few scales ripped out of our tails. "And merpeople."

Alice nibbled on the end of her quill thoughtfully. "I doubt that it would be a good idea, with this many people around, Lily. I don't particularly relish the idea of sneaking out after curfew to go for a swim either."

I looked at my best friend, using the pleading eyes that I always used on my father in order to get something."We could just walk around the lake," I said. "You know, scope things out?"

The blonde laughed at my attempts to pull her toward the water. "You are determined to not do your essay, aren't you?"

I held up my parchment and waved it in her face. "Twelve inches."

"Lily," Alice snapped, pushing the essay away from her. "That is hardly legible. You should at least rewrite it."

I glanced down at my tiny scrawl and frowned. James' penmanship was much worse than my own, and he never said anything about professors complaining about its readability. "It's not that bad."

"You don't even cross your t's."

I rolled my essay up and tucked it into my bag. "Professor Howell can figure it out," I said. "Now, I am going to explore. You feel free to sit here and finish your essay." I stood up, stretching my back, which had become quiet cramped from hunching over. Alice muttered behind me angrily, but didn't follow me, not that I expected her to.

Tucking my wand behind my ear, I skipped towards the Black Lake and waved to Fred, who was soaking wet after his friend pulled him into the water in retaliation. I walked along the sandy bank, watching as the water rippled from where the Gryffindors were splashing about.

The sand slowly turned to rocks which turned to boulders which, despite wearing my uniform and robes, were a lot of fun to climb on. I slowly made my way across the boulders, careful not to slip off into the water, which would be unfortunate if anybody witnessed me growing a tail. Thankfully, I made it across the rocks without any issues, and continued along the bank of the lake, which bordered the Forbidden Forest.

I saw along the tree line of small patch of what looked like Moonlace- a funny little white plant that could only be harvested when it bloomed during the full moon, and was particularly useful in soothing magical burns. Moonlace wasn't rare by any means, but it was incredibly useful, which was something that I had learned at the tender age of nine when I burnt my hand on a hot cauldron. I bent over pale leaves, sniffing and finding the bitter scent that was characteristic of the plant.

I was wondering if Uncle Neville knew about the plants when I heard a rustling coming from the forest. I straightened up quickly and peered into the trees, looking for the source of the sound. Whatever it was, was not very large by the sounds it was making, not that that was very comforting. Aunty Luna's cat was small, yet it always managed to leave James' shins bleeding messes whenever we visited.

Figuring that it was just an animal, I had decided to continue on with my walk when a small whimper sounded. I bit my lip and looked over my shoulder. Nobody was paying any attention to me. The animal was whining, it's pathetic cries causing my feet to lead me closer to the tree line. I pulled my wand out from its spot behind my ear and lit the end of it. Despite the sunshine, the forest was full of shadows, and while I had never been afraid of the dark, I was reluctant to enter the forest. It was forbidden for a reason.

The animal was clearly wounded, though. If it was an animal of course. It could easily have been some sort of beast or monster that mimicked the sounds of other creatures to lure in its prey. I wasn't sure what kind of beast did that, besides a wendigo, and not only were they not too common in Scotland, but I had read that they specialised in human speech.

The animal cried out again, and I stepped into the forest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know," Alice hissed to me while we slipped back into the castle. "When you said that you were going to explore, I didn't expect that you would go into the Forbidden Forest."

"Well, I couldn't just leave it there!" I retorted, leading her towards the dungeons. "The poor thing was caught in a thorn bush!" The 'it' of course, was a little red puppy that was stuffed in my bag as Alice and I hurried towards the Slytherin common rooms. Upon rescuing the animal, I grabbed it and raced towards my friend, who I enlisted to smuggle the puppy into the castle.

Alice sighed next to me in annoyance. "Why couldn't you just take it to Hagrid?"

"First off, 'it' is a 'he'. And besides," I hissed as a group of Ravenclaws passed. "He would've asked me where I got him from, and then I would have had to explain that I was out of bounds." The puppy gave a little yip, as if agreeing that I had gone with the best course of action. "_Nosce te ipsum_." I said to the blank stretch of wall that hid the Slytherin common room. The wall melted away and the two of us scurried in.

Despite her annoyance with me, Alice looked curiously around the common room and commented on the decor, especially the windows that lined the walls of the room. The expression on her face told me that she was about to talk a lot, so I rolled my eyes and pulled her towards my dormitory with a "You can look later."

We hurried up the stone staircase, luckily passing no one on the way. We burst through the door of the first year girl's dormitory, and I ran over to my trunk, pulling out my stock of potions, looking for something that could heal wounds on animals.

I felt the puppy pop his head out of my back pack, as if to take in its surroundings. He wiggled, wanting to explore, and nearly flopped out. I swung my pack off and placed it carefully on the ground.

"You can't keep a dog in your dormitory, Lily." Alice said with a groan before beginning to unload my books from her bag that I had stuffed there to make room in my own bag for the animal.

I paused my rummaging, a bottle of essence of dittany in my hand. "None of my roommates have cats," I explained. "So I am failing to see the problem."

Alice sat down on the floor and let the puppy crawl into her lap. "Let us start with the fact that our supplies list only mentioned a cat, an owl, and a toad as possible pets."

"Albus has a ferret," I pointed out.

Alice waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "That thing is small and rarely leaves it's cage. This dog is going to be huge. Not only will it be impossible to hide, but it's going to be loud as well."

I scooted over to where Alice was sitting, trying to keep the puppy from licking her face. I pulled him towards me, rolling him onto his back so that I could reach the cuts on his belly more easily. The puppy's little tail thumped against the floor as he wiggled around happily. "I guess that I will have to cross that bridge when I get there," I said. Despite my friend's comments about the puppy, I knew that she would never turn me in.

Alice sighed in a way that meant that she wasn't going to fight me on the matter any longer. "So what are you going to name him? Not that naming this dog is the biggest problem I can imagine while you live in this dorm, of course."

"Oh? And what is the biggest problem you can think of at the moment?" I asked, grinning at the blonde, who rolled her eyes. "I was thinking Oscar, by the way," I continued, putting the stopper back in the bottle of dittany. "Or maybe Rumsfeld."

My friend mouthed the suggestions with a confused expression. Shaking her head she said, "Besides you being completely oblivious to your surroundings Lily, remind me to tell your future husband that you should not to be allowed to name your children, as there are many things wrong with your logic and reasoning skills."

"Why do you keep commenting on the surroundings? What? Does the decor not suit your tastes?" I asked, looking around. I mean, true the dark colours were a tad bit excessive for the already dark room (we were in the dungeons, after all), but it wasn't _that_ bad. "I think it's a bit cosy, if I'm going to be honest he-"

My sentence was cut short by Alice grabbing the sides of my face and directing my head towards the wall that was opposite my bed. "Use your brain, Lily, and tell me what is wrong with what you see."

"Not that I really have much of a choice," I grumbled, shifting my gaze to the wall in front of me. Carved out of the rock was a window that opened into the Black Lake, or at least I assumed it did, given the amount of fish that swam by. The glass that separated the water from my dormitory gave off a heating charm so that the room wasn't too cold. "So you have a problem with the view?" I asked.

Alice huffed in annoyance. "Your brain, Potter. Use your brain. Why could an underwater window cause a problem?"

"Because it could break and drown the entirety of the Slytherin house?" I asked. "But you don't need to worry about that, Alice. In _Hogwarts a History_, it explains that the glass is unbreakable. Plus, I'm a mermaid, so if the place ever did flood, I could just swim out into the Black La- oh."

"This is why you aren't in Ravenclaw."

I stuck out my tongue at my her before drying the puppy with a towel, who had started to gnaw on my fingers when he realised that my attention was elsewhere. "What do you think, little friend? Is Alice being a bully?" When the animal yipped, I smiled at Alice. "I'm going to take that as a yes."

When the blonde's scowl deepened by my nonchalance, I raised my hands in an effort to appease her. "Okay, so we scout out the waters the first chance we get, and find out how far we need to stay away from the glass. Relax, Alice."

The girl in question shook her head. "We also need to tell Cecilia about it." She glowered down at my new puppy. "An what are you going to tell your roommates about your new pet? It's going to be pretty difficult to hide him."

It was at that moment that the door to the dormitory swung open, revealing an arguing Regina Peaks and (as I learned this morning) Fiona Nott. The puppy barked excitedly and pounced on their shoes, rolling onto his back for a belly rub. Peaks and Nott paused their argument to look down in shock at the animal.

"Lily," Fiona said, bending down to scratch the puppy. "Is this your dog?"

"Yes," I replied, watching the girls carefully. "That's not a problem, is it?"

Regina looked up from the dog to me, the surprised expression on her face melting into a grin. She reached down and allowed the puppy to jump into her arms. After spending a moment rubbing his ears, Regina carried the puppy into the bathroom, cooing to the animal about him getting a bubble bath.

I smirked, looking at the incredulous look on Alice's face. "I think my roommates will be just fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dates with the Giant Squid~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After dinner, Alice and I walked out of the Great Hall, and hid behind a statue to wait for Cecilia. Alice kept look out for the Third year while I pulled out a book and began to read, figuring that we would be waiting quite a while.

Alice sighed after a while and sat back against the wall of the alcove with me. She glanced at my book, reading over my shoulder. "You could help me keep watch, you know?"

I hummed, flipping the page. "You were doing such a wonderful job, that I didn't feel that my assistance was necessary." I dodged my friend's hand as she went to flick my ear. "Besides, I doubt that she'll be out anytime soon- we don't want people to associated us together this early in the term. There is no logical explanation for us to know each other well enough to meet up after dinner yet."

The blonde agreed quietly and leaned her head on my shoulder. "I just hope she hurries up- I'm exhausted."

"Did you eat enough at dinner?" I asked, pulling an apple out of my bag. Alice always became tired when she was hungry, and I knew that she would be disappointed if she fell asleep while talking to Cecilia. "Auntie Fleur says that performing magic increases the metabolism. Add to the fact that we live in a castle now, there is a lot more exercise than what we are used to."

My friend didn't respond, but took the offered fruit anyways, biting into it as she began to rummage through her own bag. Pulling out a roll of parchment, the blonde placed it on top of my book, forcing me to pay attention. "I wrote down all of the questions I could think of while you were on your escapade through the Forbidden Forest."

I had to roll my eyes at that. "I was maybe three meters in, Alice. Let it go."

Alice didn't respond, instead choosing to point to the list she had created. "Cecilia mentioned something about eyes lightening, and seemed confused by our ages. I figured that would be a good jumping off place."

"I suppose it's as good a place as any," I replied. I felt the weird buzzing feeling from earlier in the day return to the pit of my stomach. I peered around the statue and saw the Ravenclaw in question stroll out of the Great Hall, chatting quietly with Scorpius and Albus.

As it turned out, I did not have to wave the girl down. As she walked towards the Grand Staircase, she suddenly stopped and took her leave from my brother and his friend. The mermaid watched as the boys walked ahead of her before turning around and making a beeline for our hiding spot once they were out of her sight.

"Hurry," she hissed, not waiting for us to scramble after her as she swept towards the doors that opened onto the grounds. "We don't have much time before the doors are locked for the night."

"Where are we going?" Alice asked.

The older girl glanced briefly at my friend before saying, "For a swim."

I shot the Ravenclaw a confused look, which went unnoticed as she glided through the courtyard and in the direction of the front lawn. "Right now?" I asked. "Will we not get cold? The human body looses heat faster in water than it does in air, and it is starting to cool down outside, now that the sun is going down."

"Then it is fortunate that you are not human, no?" Cecilia paused her quick strides and turned to look at me. "That is what your scales are for- Ba! I forget how little you know about being a merperson." She looked thoughtful for a moment before pulling us towards a stone bench that lined the courtyard. She fixed her odd coloured eyes on me and bowed her head. "I apologise, miss. You must have more questions."

I nodded towards Alice, who was wringing her list in her hands. "You keep mentioning scales?" The Hufflepuff asked.

Cecilia let out a breath. "Yes. They are to keep younglings warm. You are in your eleventh summer, correct?" I figured that this was how merpeople measured time and nodded.

The dark haired girl gave me a faint smile. "When a _piccolo pesce,_ a youngling, is born, they always have scales that cover every spot on their bodies. The arms, the hands, the face, it is all covered in scales. This keeps the younglings warm outside of the womb. After the first summer (or I guess for us on land, the first year), the scales start to flake off- first from the head, then the hands. The older they get, the more muscle and fat that is developed, which keeps them warm, just like for humans. The scales become unnecessary and fall off.

"By the time a youngling is in the eighth or ninth summer- year, just the torso is covered. They scales stay in place until the thirteenth summer, when puberty begins, so does the change, and the torso scales begin to fall off as the youngling grows rapidly, much like a human teenager. Think of it like a snake shedding its skin. With this rapid growth, the scales flake of only skin is left behind. The skin of course has soft texture to it, like velvet, which helps with grip in the water."

"So wait," I said, interrupting. "Mermaids just swim around topless?"

Cecilia tilted her head, as if perplexed by my question. "Naturally," she said. "Have you ever seen a mermaid with a top on?"

I glanced over at Alice, who fidgeted in her spot on the bench. "We have never seen a mermaid in person before." I replied, reluctantly making eye contact with the confused Ravenclaw. "Or a merperson in general."

Cecilia looked taken aback, "Yes, well, mermaids are topless. The idea behind a clamshell top is a stereotype started and perpetuated by muggles. Completely ludicrous."

There was a beat of uncomfortable silence, ended by Alice, who began to fire off question after question from her list. "What did you mean by your eyes earlier?"

"In order to see clearly in deep water, eyes need to be a lighter colour because it allows more light to enter and hit the retina. A third, transparent eyelid forms as well, which keeps out debris."

"How long can we stay underwater without needing to breathe? And how deep can we go before the water pressure crushes us?"

"Indefinitely, I suppose, once you grow gills. They begin to form when you hit puberty." Cecilia undid the first button on her blouse and pulled at the blue and bronze tie so that we could get a clear view of her neck, where three folds of skin had begun to form in what could only be described as gills. "I can hold my breath for about ninety minutes, depending on what I am doing."

I miraculously resisted the urge to poke the strange grooves, watching as the seemed to twitch every time Cecilia took a breath. "Those will be difficult to cover up," I said, noting how the very top of the gills were still visible over her shirt collar.

Cecilia nodded. "And painful. A loose scarf is often the best option. As for how deep we can go, I am afraid I do not know. I would guess very far, though most colonies live no more than a hundred metres down or so."

"What are the different ways to become a merperson?" I asked. "You mentioned that you could change into one, which is obvious given the three of us, but what are the known ways?"

At this, Cecilia shifted nervously. "Perhaps that is a question best left for another time, yes? It is not a pleasant conversation."

I felt my brow furrow at her words. "Still, it might be helpful for us to know. I've been searching for a cure ever since I created that bloody-"

"Lily!" Alice hissed after aiming a kick to my shin. "She just said she didn't want to talk about it!"

I rolled my eyes. "No, she said that is was a 'question best left for another time', as it appears to be of an unpleasant nature. Not that she didn't want to."

Alice rolled up her list of questions and wacked me over the head with it. "Ugh, you are impossible! It was in the subtext, Lily!"

Cecilia watched us bicker for a few moments before holding up her hand to silence us. "It is fine, Alice." She took a composing breath, looking a bit unsure of herself. "You must realise that it is very uncommon for a merperson to be created- most merfolk have been so since birth, and often look down upon humans who have been transformed. A changed merperson is often called a "Shallow", which is used as a derogatory slur by merfolk- you can usually tell if a merperson has been changed by their tail colour, which is of a lighter colour for the region. The tail colours is a sort of... camouflage I believe the word is. The warmer the water is, the deeper they live, hence a darker tail. It is like human skin, no? But I am off topic.

"There are three ways, however, a human can become a merperson: the first and most common way is to be bitten by a mermaid, though this mode of transformation is said to be extremely painful for the human; the second is to digest a scale of a merperson, though this method seldom works because the stomach acid can dissolve the scale before it can enter into the human's bloodstream; third is to drink a merman's blood, though this procedure can be very dangerous for the human and may result in death. Do you understand?" Cecilia twisted her hands in her lap, barely making eye contact with us.

It took me a moment to find my voice after that information overload, but when I did, I felt a question slip off my tongue that even as I said it, I knew Alice would find insensitive. "So which of the three happened you?"

Alice looked as though she had misheard me, then realising that she had heard my question correctly, she turned to face Cecilia. "You don't have to answer that, Cec-"

"Merman's blood." Cecilia pursed her lips as she looked over towards the lake. "I must impress upon you that it is against the law for a merperson to change a human, and is punishable by death- the exception in the unlikely, though plausible, event that the human is the merperson's mate. As it is extremely dangerous for a human to undergo the transformation, merpeople will rarely change their mates."

I looked at Alice in confusion. Something didn't exactly feel right by the tone in which Cecilia talked about changing humans, though I could not put my finger on it. Alice was, of course, much better at understanding emotions, but when she did not veto me speaking, I pressed on."So you were the mate of the merman who-"

"No," Cecilia said with finality. After looking at her watch, she stood up and grabbed her side bag, digging around for something. "We must hurry. Curfew is in less than an hour, and I do not plan to get a detention on the first day of classes."

Alice and I hopped off of the stone bench and hurried after her. She continued to shuffle through the contents of her bag, even after she began to make her way towards the Black Lake.

"I dunno," I said, attempting to match the Ravenclaw's long strides. "I've already received one."

The dark haired girl either did not hear me or chose to ignore me, instead pulling out three pieces of jewellery. She tossed me a thick bangle which glinted in the rapidly rising moon's glow. "Here," she said, throwing a ruby pendant to Alice. "Hold onto these. They are peace offerings for the Chieftain."

We arrived at the edge of the lake, quickly making our way to the rocks I had crossed earlier in the day. Cecilia hid her bag in one of the crevices and stripped off her robes. Kicking off her shoes, she instructed us to do the same before diving into the water of the Black Lake.

"What exactly are we doing, Lily?" Alice hissed to me as we copied the older witch's actions.

I looked up to my best friend as I peeled off my socks. "Apparently we are going for a light night swim, my dear Alice." I held out my hand to the blonde who was eyeing the water suspiciously. "We haven't got all day."

The blonde took a steadying breath before grabbing my outstretched hand. Checking that the jewellery was secure in our hands, the two of us jumped into the cold water below.

**(A/N: So, Lily got her animal! I promise that he does serve a purpose other than I really love dogs. Also, if you noticed the little salutes to **_**Supernatural**_**, I hope you got a giggle out of it. Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. After writing and rewriting this chapter, I couldn't figure out how to tell you merfolk culture without doing an information dump, so I do apologise for the large amount of info. Please review with comments, questions, and constructive criticism! -CheckAlexa)**


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